Population
;National Estimated populations as at 30 June. For urban areas, * New Zealand total – 4,793,700 *Incumbents
Regal and vice-regal
* Head of State – Elizabeth II *Government
2017 is the third and final full year of the 51st Parliament, which first sat on 21 October 2014 and was dissolved on 17 August 2017. A general election was held onOther party leaders
*New Zealand Labour Party, Labour – Andrew Little (New Zealand politician), Andrew Little until 1 August, then Jacinda Ardern (Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), Leader of the Opposition until 26 October) *Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, Green – James Shaw (New Zealand politician), James Shaw and, until 9 August, Metiria Turei *New Zealand First – Winston Peters *Māori Party – Te Ururoa Flavell and Marama Fox *ACT New Zealand – David Seymour (New Zealand politician), David Seymour *United Future – Peter Dunne until 23 August, then Damian Light until 14 November (party disbanded)Judiciary
*Chief Justice of New Zealand, Chief Justice — Sian EliasMain centre leaders
*Mayor of Auckland – Phil Goff *Mayor of Tauranga – Greg Brownless *Mayor of Hamilton, New Zealand, Mayor of Hamilton – Andrew King (mayor), Andrew King *Mayor of Wellington – Justin Lester (politician), Justin Lester *Mayor of Christchurch – Lianne Dalziel *Mayor of Dunedin – Dave CullEvents
February
* 6 February – Sapphire Jubilee of Elizabeth II's accession as Queen of New Zealand * 13 February to 20 April – 2017 Port Hills fires, Wild fires burn on the Port Hills of Christchurch * 22 February – The Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial opens on the sixth anniversary of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake * 25 February – 2017 Mount Albert by-election, Mount Albert by-election takes placeMarch
* 7 March – Jacinda Ardern is elected deputy leader of the Labour Party * March – Pumpkin Patch (retailer), Pumpkin Patch is put into liquidationApril
* 6 April – A state of emergency is declared as the town of Edgecumbe is evacuated due to flooding caused by the remnants of Cyclone Debbie * 13–14 April – Cyclone Cook, now an extratropical cyclone, moves across the North IslandMay
* 25 May – The 2017 New Zealand budget is presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance, Steven JoyceJune
* 5 June – The 2017 Birthday Honours (New Zealand), 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are announcedJuly
* 19–21 July – Severe flooding hits the east coast of the South Island between Christchurch and Balclutha * 21 July – ''2017 Mycoplasma bovis outbreak, Mycoplasma bovis'' disease found in a South Island herd of cowsAugust
* 1 August – Jacinda Ardern elected leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party after Andrew Little (New Zealand politician), Andrew Little resignsSeptember
* 23 September – The 2017 New Zealand general election, 2017 general election is heldOctober
* 26 October – Jacinda Ardern is sworn in as the Prime Minister of New Zealand, 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand * 31 October – Trolleybuses in Wellington, Trolleybuses are withdrawn from service in WellingtonDecember
* 4 December – The Healthy Homes Guarantee Act 2017 (NZ), Healthy Homes Guarantee Act 2017 receives royal assent, having passed its third reading in Parliament on 29 November * 30 December – The 2018 New Year Honours (New Zealand), 2018 New Year Honours are announcedSport
Rugby union
*2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, 3 June – 8 JulyShooting
*Ballinger Belt – ** Jim Bailey (Australia) ** Brian Carter (Te Puke), third, top New ZealanderBirths
* 9 November – Johnny Get Angry (horse), Johnny Get Angry, Thoroughbred racehorse * 20 November – Mo'unga (horse), Mo'unga, Thoroughbred racehorseDeaths
January
* 7 January ** Nick Calavrias, businessman (born 1949) ** Sir Bruce Slane, public servant (born 1931) * 8 January – Elspeth Kennedy (sharebroker), Elspeth Kennedy, sharebroker, community leader (born 1931) * 9 January ** Michael Chamberlain, pastor, exonerated in the death of Azaria Chamberlain (born 1944) ** Brown Turei, Anglican archbishop (born 1924) * 10 January – Heather McPherson, poet (born 1942) * 11 January – Newman Hoar, cricketer (born 1920) * 23 January – Pat Downey (barrister), Pat Downey, barrister and solicitor, Human Rights Commissioner, legal editor (born 1927) * 24 January – Manu Maniapoto, rugby union player (born 1935) * 26 January – Dame Laurie Salas, women's rights and peace activist (born 1922)February
* 1 February – Bernardine Portenski, Bernie Portenski, athlete (born 1949) * 4 February – John Dickson (New Zealand poet), John Dickson, poet (born 1944) * 8 February – Steve Sumner, association footballer (born 1955) * 12 February – Sione Lauaki, rugby union player (born 1981) * 13 February – Jim Watson (biologist), Jim Watson, biotechnologist and entrepreneur (born 1943) * 14 February – John Watkinson (chemist), John Watkinson, soil chemist (born 1932) * 19 February – Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe, Tongan royal (born 1926)March
* 1 March – Tania Dalton, netball player (born 1971) * 3 March – Bramwell Cook (gastroenterologist), Bramwell Cook, gastroenterologist (born 1936) * 6 March – Dudley Storey, rower (born 1939) * 12 March ** Murray Ball, cartoonist (born 1939) ** Eunice Eichler, midwife, open adoption advocate (born 1932) * 15 March – Phil Garland, folk musician (born 1942) * 23 March – Nigel Hutchinson, film producer and commercial director (born 1941) * 24 March – Roger Bradley, cricketer (born 1962) * 25 March – Eric Watson (cricketer), Eric Watson, rugby union player and coach, cricketer (born 1925) * 27 March ** Shirley Annan, netball player (born 1940) ** Sean Roberts (cricketer), Sean Roberts, cricket (born 1968)April
* 3 April ** Tomairangi Paki, Tainui kuia, kapa haka exponent (born 1953) ** Bruce Palmer (judge), Bruce Palmer, lawyer, judge (born 1935) ** Bill Tinnock, rower (born 1930) * 6 April – John Anslow, field hockey player (born 1935) * 7 April – Robin Kay, artist, historian (born 1919) * 8 April – Sir Douglas Myers, businessman (born 1938) * 9 April – John Clarke (satirist), John Clarke, satirist (born 1948) * 18 April – Digby Taylor, sailor (born 1941) * 19 April – Jill Amos, politician, activist (born 1927) * 20 April ** David Dougherty, wrongly convicted of rape and abduction (born 1967) ** Sandy McNicol, rugby union player (born 1944) * 27 April ** Danny O'Connor (bowls), Danny O'Connor, lawn bowls player ** Alexia Pickering, disabilities rights campaigner (born 1930)May
* 2 May – Hugo Judd, diplomat (born 1939) * 3 May – Doug Rollerson, rugby union and rugby league player (born 1953) * 4 May ** Rosie Scott, author (born 1948) ** Beryl Te Wiata, actor, author, scriptwriter (born 1925) * 6 May – Lyn McLean, lawn bowls player (born ) * 13 May – Nicholas Tarling, historian, academic, author (born 1931) * 15 May – Graeme Barrow, author (born 1936) * 17 May – Kevin Stanton, musician (born 1956) * 18 May – George Martin (rugby league), George Martin, rugby league player, field athlete (born 1931) * 25 May – Earl Hagaman, hotel operator (born 1925)June
* 11 June – Lois McIvor, artist (born 1930) * 15 June – Dame Ngāneko Minhinnick, Ngāti Te Ata leader (born 1939) * 21 June – Oliver Jessel, businessman (born 1929) * 24 June – Nick Kirk, Anglican cleric (born 1958) * 25 June – David Goldsmith (field hockey), David Goldsmith, field hockey player (born 1931) * 26 June ** Sir Duncan McMullin, jurist (born 1927) ** Guy Ngan, artist (born 1926) * 27 June – Jacinta Coleman, Jacinta Gray, cyclist (born 1974) * 28 June – Bruce Stewart (playwright), Bruce Stewart, author, playwright, marae founder (born 1936) * 29 June – Marrion Roe, Olympic swimmer (born 1935)July
* 3 July – Rolf Prince, chemical engineering academic (born 1928) * 5 July ** Chris de Freitas, climatologist (born 1948) ** John Karlsen, actor (born 1919) * 7 July – Frank Ryan (mayor), Frank Ryan, local-body politician (born 1932) * 8 July – Gay Eaton, textile artist (born 1933) * 10 July – Marama Martin, radio and television personality (born 1930) * 12 July – Allan Hunter (rugby union), Allan Hunter, rugby union player, teacher, historian (born 1922) * 15 July – Michael Cooper (economist), Michael Cooper, economist (born 1938) * 16 July – Cliff Whiting, artist, master carver, heritage advocate (born 1936) * 17 July – George Hill (agronomist), George Hill, agronomist (born 1938) * 18 July – Ian Mason (cricketer), Ian Mason, cricketer (born 1942) * 23 July ** Wenceslaus Anthony, businessman (born 1957) ** Tom Lister (rugby union), Tom Lister, rugby union player (born 1943)August
* 2 August ** Sir John Graham (rugby union), John Graham, rugby union player and administrator, educator (born 1935) ** Paul Renton, rugby union player, farmer (born 1962) * 4 August – Trevor Martin (umpire), Trevor Martin, cricket umpire (born 1925) * 6 August – Tim Homer, radio personality (born 1973) * 10 August ** Dorothy Fletcher, historian (born 1927) ** Sheila Natusch, naturalist, writer, illustrator (born 1926) * 14 August – J. S. Parker, painter (born 1944) * 15 August – Tui Flower, food writer (born 1925) * 19 August – Alan Sayers, athlete, journalist, writer (born 1915) * 20 August – Sir Colin Meads, rugby union player, coach and manager (born 1936) * 22 August – Tom Pritchard, cricketer (born 1917)September
* 5 September – Cedric Hassall, chemist, academic (born 1919) * 9 September – Sir Pat Goodman, businessman, philanthropist (born 1929) * 11 September – Malcolm Templeton, diplomat (born 1924) * 15 September – Alma Evans-Freke, television presenter (born 1931) * 16 September – Andrew Leachman, master mariner (born 1945) * 18 September – Tony Laffey, association footballer (born 1925) * 19 September – John Nicholson (racing driver), John Nicholson, motor racing driver and engine builder (born 1941) * 21 September ** David Beatson, journalist, broadcaster (born 1944) ** Vera Burt, cricketer, hockey player, coach and administrator (born 1927) * 26 September – Wanda Cowley, children's writer (born 1924) * 29 September ** Annette Johnson, alpine skier (born 1928) ** Ian Smith (New Zealand rugby player), Ian Smith, rugby union player (born 1941)October
* 2 October – Peter Burke (rugby union), Peter Burke, rugby union player, coach and administrator (born 1927) * 3 October – Norma Williams, swimmer, swimming administrator (born 1928) * 12 October – Derek Steward, athlete (born 1928) * 15 October – Francis Pound, art historian, curator and writer (born 1948) * 19 October – Edmund Cotter, mountaineer (born 1927) * 21 October – Dave Leech, hammer thrower (born 1927) * 22 October – Walter Babington Thomas, Sandy Thomas, military leader (born 1919) * 23 October – Gordon Ogilvie, historian, biographer (born 1934) * 29 October – Roly Green, rugby union player (born 1927) * 30 October – James Beard (architect), James Beard, architect, town planner, landscape architect (born 1924) * 31 October ** Norman Hardie, mountaineer (born 1924) ** Terry McCashin, rugby union player, brewer (born 1944)November
* 5 November – Geoff Rothwell, World War II bomber pilot (born 1920) * 6 November – Clem Parker, athlete (born 1926) * 7 November – Paddles (cat), Paddles, cat owned by Jacinda Ardern * 9 November – Tom Coughlan (rugby union), Tom Coughlan, rugby union player (born 1934) * 15 November ** Dame Sister Pauline Engel, educator (born 1930) ** Moana Manley, swimmer, beauty pageant contestant (born 1935) ** Bert Ormond, association footballer (born 1931)December
* 7 December – Neil Ritchie (cyclist), Neil Ritchie, cyclist (born 1933) * 12 December – Jane Galletly, television scriptwriter (born 1928) * 13 December ** Simon Dickie, rowing coxswain (born 1951) ** Gerald O'Brien, MP for Island Bay (New Zealand electorate), Island Bay from 1969 to 1978 (born 1924) * 15 December – Michael Hartshorn, organic chemist (born 1936) * 17 December – Castletown (horse), Castletown, Thoroughbred racehorse (foaled 1986) * 21 December – John Vear, cricketer (born 1938) * 30 December – Dame Cheryll Sotheran, museum executive (born 1945)Exact date unknown
* Lyn Barnett, singerReferences
{{Year in Oceania, 2017 2017 in New Zealand, 2010s in New Zealand Years of the 21st century in New Zealand 2017 by country, New Zealand 2017 in Oceania, New Zealand